Complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuits are well known in the semiconductor art. In fact, digital IC CMOS devices have captured a wide segment of the IC market. More recently the CMOS approach has been applied to linear circuit applications. In many cases an IC will require linear as well as digital functions on a single chip. It has been a desired goal to implement linear circuits in CMOS form without sacrificing the excellent performance that has been attained using bipolar device technology. In the present case it is desired to produce a class AB amplifier output stage using either bipolar or CMOS transistors that can act to drive relatively heavy loads and swing very close to the supply potentials.